Carbonated beverages and the like are well known and have been in existence in one form or another for over several hundred years. For example, beer is the oldest, most widely consumed carbonated alcoholic beverage and dates back to over one thousand years. Carbonation occurs when carbon dioxide is dissolved in a liquid, such as water or some other aqueous solution (i.e. soda) and can occur as a result of both forced and natural processes. For instance, carbon dioxide can be forcefully and artificially dissolved under pressure into a liquid or carbon dioxide can dissolve into a liquid due to naturally occurring processes, such as through fermentation. In either case, dissolving carbon dioxide into a beverage can have a beneficial effect on the presentation and flavor of the beverage. In many consumer beverages such as soda, carbonation is used to give a ‘crisp’ presentation and a flavor ‘bite’ to the drink by interacting with dilute carbonic or phosphoric acids. And as such, many modern soft drinks, such as soda, wine coolers, sparking waters, etc., contain some measure of carbonation.
However, as is known if a carbonated liquid is not maintained within a controlled sealed environment the carbon dioxide within the liquid will escape via a process referred to as effervescence. This effervescence typically manifests itself as foam or fizz that is caused from the release of gas from the liquid and eventually results in a beverage which has an un-carbonated or ‘flat’ presentation. This is undesirable because this ‘flat’ presentation typically results in a detrimentally modified flavor profile as experienced by the consumer. This problem is addressed incidentally because the FDA requires that manufacturers of carbonated beverages store, ship and sell the carbonated beverages in containers that are sealed to be air tight. Accordingly, the carbonated beverages will maintain their freshness or effervescence until the container is opened and the seal is broken. Referring to FIG. 1A, one such beverage container 100, in this case a plastic bottle, is illustrated and shows a carbonated beverage 102 contained within the container 100 such that the beverage 102 is at a predetermined level L1. This allows for a small space 106 to separate the beverage 102 from the top of the container 100. During packaging once the beverage has been dispensed into the container 100, the container 100 is sealed using a sealing device 108, in this case a threaded bottle cap. Referring to FIG. 1B, as the carbonated beverage 102 sits within the sealed container 100, carbon dioxide 110 is released into the small space 106 via effervescence and fills up the volume V1 of the space 106 until the pressure within the container 100 reaches a level where effervescence from the beverage 102 can no longer occur. Typically, the volume V1 of the space 106 between the top of the beverage 102 and the top of the container 100 is sized such that only a small amount of carbon dioxide can be released from the beverage before the pressure within the container 100 reaches an equilibrium with the carbon dioxide in the beverage and effervescence can no longer occur. At this point, the carbonated beverage will maintain its effervescence without the beverage going ‘flat’.
Unfortunately however, once a consumer opens the container 100 the pressure within the container 100 is released and effervescence once again begins to occur. Referring to FIG. 1C, each time the consumer removes some of the beverage 102 from the container 100 and reseals the container 100, the space 106 between the top of the new level L2 of the beverage 102 and the top of the container 100 is filled up with carbon dioxide 110 via effervescence from the beverage 102. This creates a condition where the space 106 between the top of the beverage 102 and the top of the container 100 continually increases in volume. And as this new volume V2 increases in size, so too does the amount of carbon dioxide released from the beverage 102, in order to achieve a pressure equilibrium within the container 100. Thus, the amount of carbon dioxide 110 within the beverage 102 eventually becomes depleted resulting in a ‘flat’ beverage. This is undesirable because most consumers don't enjoy a ‘flat’ beverage which results in any remaining beverage 102 being disposed of as waste.
One way to prevent carbonated beverages from becoming ‘flat’ is by keeping the volume V2 of the space 106 between the top of the beverage 102 and the top of the container 100 to a minimum (for example, V2=V1) so that the above discussed equilibrium with the container 100 can be achieved with a minimal amount of effervescence. Up until about 35 years ago, this was impractical because carbonated beverage containers 102 were constructed of glass or metal. However, with the advent of deformable plastic beverage containers, several devices have been introduced to help solve this problem. Unfortunately, these devices are complicated, cumbersome, difficult to use and don't achieve the desired result.